Constant Gardener

The B Corp seal is a symbol of enlightened capitalism. As ever-bigger companies seek it out, can it stay meaningful?

- KRISTIN TOUSSAINT

When Nespresso announced, at the end of April, that it had received B Corp certification, it was a milestone. The Nestlé-owned coffee company was joining the ranks of legendarily progressive brands like Ben & Jerry's and Patagonia, along with 5,000 other companies around the globe whose social and environmental practices have met the standards set by the nonprofit B Lab, which issues the certification in its mission to make businesses "a force for good." Nespresso soon began adding the increasingly familiar B Corp logo-an encircled B-to its website, products, and even the windows of its global headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland.

But a backlash was brewing. In June, 30 certified B Corps signed an open letter to B Lab protesting the coffee maker's certification, pointing to a history of child labor and wage theft on farms that grow its beans, along with reports of abuse of factory workers. The letter, signed by coffee companies as well as such brands as Dr. Bronner's and Grove Collaborative, called on the nonprofit to strengthen its standards-or risk undermining the authority of the B Corp label altogether.